Prostitution | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/prostitution
Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voiceen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015Tue, 31 Mar 2015 22:20:41 GMT2015-03-31T22:20:41Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015The Guardianhttp://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttp://www.theguardian.com
Sex workers protest blog blaming Pretty Woman for glamourising prostitutionhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/31/sex-workers-protest-blog-pretty-woman-glamourising-prostitution
<p>#FacesOfProstitution begins trending in the wake of blogpost from sex trafficking campaigners Exodus Cry, who say that the Julia Roberts film led women to believe sex work was glamorous</p><p>Last week marked 25 years since the release of Pretty Woman, in which Julia Roberts’s call girl falls for Richard Gere’s moneyed and emotionally inaccessible exec. The film’s rose-tinting of prostitution was criticised by Christian campaign group Exodus Cry, which campaigns against sex trafficking, but its blogpost has now caused indignation amongst other parts of the sex trade.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/23/pretty-womans-cinderella-fantasy-25-years">Pretty Woman's still successfully hawks the Cinderella fantasy after 25 years | Nichi Hodgson</a> </p><p>So drug-addled / unhealthy I can only hold the pole with one arm <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FacesOfProstitution?src=hash">#FacesOfProstitution</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/neveravictim?src=hash">#neveravictim</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Mamamia">@Mamamia</a> <a href="http://t.co/JdV4SMeJJ7">pic.twitter.com/JdV4SMeJJ7</a></p><p>Pretty sure I don't look like a drug-addled, downtrodden hooker. Don't need saving, thanks. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FacesOfProstitution?src=hash">#FacesOfProstitution</a> <a href="http://t.co/rhwdlJVavO">pic.twitter.com/rhwdlJVavO</a></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/31/sex-workers-protest-blog-pretty-woman-glamourising-prostitution">Continue reading...</a>Pretty WomanFilmDocumentarySex tradeProstitutionCultureHuman traffickingSocietyTue, 31 Mar 2015 08:53:41 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/31/sex-workers-protest-blog-pretty-woman-glamourising-prostitutionPhotograph: Touchstone/AllstarRichard Gere and Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.Photograph: Touchstone/AllstarRichard Gere and Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.Ben Beaumont-Thomas2015-03-31T08:53:41ZStudents turn to sex work to make ends meet at university, study findshttp://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/mar/27/university-students-sex-work-living-costs-tuition-fee-debts
<p>Research shows one in 20 students has worked in sex industry to fund lifestyles, just get by or reduce debts, with more men than women involved</p><p>Many students are secretly turning to sex work to fund basic living costs while at university, a study has found.</p><p>Research by Swansea University shows one in 20 students has worked in the sex industry while studying for a degree, and men are more likely to do so than women.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/feb/15/lap-dancing-students-funding-studies">Student by day ... lap-dancer by night</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/mar/27/university-students-sex-work-living-costs-tuition-fee-debts">Continue reading...</a>Higher educationProstitutionSocietySwansea UniversityEducationUK newsFri, 27 Mar 2015 09:53:14 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/mar/27/university-students-sex-work-living-costs-tuition-fee-debtsPhotograph: Alex Segre/Rex FeaturesStudents are using sex work to fund lifestyles and, in many cases, pay basic living costs, research has found.Photograph: Alex Segre/Rex FeaturesStudents are using sex work to fund lifestyles and, in many cases, pay basic living costs, research has found.Press Association2015-03-27T09:53:14ZShould it be illegal to pay for sex? Panel verdicthttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/24/should-it-be-illegal-to-pay-for-sex-work-law-northern-ireland
As Laura Lee challenges a new sex work law in Northern Ireland, she joins a panel of sex workers and writers to discuss the move <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/24/should-it-be-illegal-to-pay-for-sex-work-law-northern-ireland">Continue reading...</a>ProstitutionSex tradeSex, Lies and VideotapeSocietyLawNorthern IrelandUK newsTue, 24 Mar 2015 14:01:56 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/24/should-it-be-illegal-to-pay-for-sex-work-law-northern-irelandPhotograph: Alamy‘There has never been a society without those who sell sex and neither will there be. Once you’ve accepted that, your priorities should change.’ Photograph: AlamyPhotograph: Alamy‘There has never been a society without those who sell sex and neither will there be. Once you’ve accepted that, your priorities should change.’ Photograph: AlamyLaura Lee, Julie Bindel, Margaret Corvid, Rahila Gupta2015-03-24T14:01:56ZPretty Woman's still successfully hawks the Cinderella fantasy after 25 years | Nichi Hodgsonhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/23/pretty-womans-cinderella-fantasy-25-years
<p>Many of us sex workers – even in Hollywood – believe in and find love, but not with a client. In that way madness lies, never salvation</p><p>I was at a Brownies-sponsored sleepover at about age 10, when someone popped Pretty Woman into the VCR, and I was aghast. My parents had told me that the movie was not suitable viewing for children, and I certainly wasn’t going to watch it behind their backs. Instead, I beat a retreat from my tweenage girlfriends and went back to reading my Grimm’s anthology.</p><p>It’s funny, of course: I ended up working briefly as a pro-domme while the girls who watched it became entertainers and stay-at-home moms.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/23/pretty-womans-cinderella-fantasy-25-years">Continue reading...</a>FilmCultureJulia RobertsRichard GereProstitutionWomenMon, 23 Mar 2015 12:13:40 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/23/pretty-womans-cinderella-fantasy-25-yearsPhotograph: Cine Text/Sportsphoto Ltd / AllstarHe seems great,Photograph: Cine Text/Sportsphoto Ltd / AllstarHe seems great,Nichi Hodgson2015-03-23T12:13:40ZSex worker launches legal challenge against NI prostitution banhttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/22/sex-worker-to-launch-legal-challenge-against-ni-prostitution-ban
<p>Laura Lee says new legislation that criminalises the payment of sex among consenting adults is a breach of European human rights law </p><p>A sex worker is using European human rights legislation to try to overturn a new law in Northern Ireland that makes it illegal to pay for prostitutes.<br /></p><p>Dublin-born law graduate Laura Lee is launching an unprecedented legal challenge that could go all the way to Strasbourg, against a human trafficking bill which includes banning the payment for sex among consenting adults.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/22/sex-worker-to-launch-legal-challenge-against-ni-prostitution-ban">Continue reading...</a>Northern IrelandProstitutionLawEuropean UnionHuman rightsEuropeSocietyUK newsSun, 22 Mar 2015 12:25:48 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/22/sex-worker-to-launch-legal-challenge-against-ni-prostitution-banPhotograph: Murdo MacLeodLaura Lee plans to fund the case partly via crowdfunding and from sex worker campaign groups across the world.Photograph: Murdo MacLeodLaura Lee plans to fund the case partly via crowdfunding and from sex worker campaign groups across the world.Henry McDonald Ireland correspondent2015-03-22T12:25:48ZDreamcatcher depicts the grim truth about prostitution | Julie Bindelhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/12/dreamcatcher-prostitution-women-oppression-sex
Those of us who see prostitution as a cause and consequence of women’s oppression come up against those who believe most women make a choice to sell sex<br /><p>When I was asked to interview Kim Longinotto, the brilliant director of <a href="https://membership.theguardian.com/event/guardian-live-doc-sundays-dreamcatcher-15351670259">the film Dreamcatcher, after a Guardian screening later this month</a>, I was thrilled. Not only do I hugely admire Longinotto’s work, such as the inspirational <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisters_in_Law">Sisters in Law: Stories from a Cameroon Court</a>, I am also a big fan of the main protagonist in Dreamcatcher, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/05/dreamcatcher-review-moving-documentary-ex-prostitute-brenda-myers-powell">Brenda Myers-Powell</a>. Myers-Powell, a survivor of prostitution in Chicago, gives support and advocacy to other women in similar situations. One of the main aims of her project is to stop girls and women being coerced and abused into the sex trade, and to help those in prostitution to escape its clutches.</p><p>And who knows better than Myers-Powell? Not only did she experience the horrors of prostitution for 24 years, she also was a researcher on a study of the prostitution of girls in the Chicago area and, with the same research team, <a href="http://www.turnofftheredlight.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/PIMPING-FAMILY_LAW_CENTER_REPORT-final.pdf">on pimps</a>. As well as that, she has direct contact with women from similar backgrounds and circumstances to herself on a regular basis.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/12/dreamcatcher-prostitution-women-oppression-sex">Continue reading...</a>ProstitutionSocietyWomenLife and styleGenderFilmWorld newsThu, 12 Mar 2015 12:41:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/12/dreamcatcher-prostitution-women-oppression-sexPhotograph: PRBrenda Myers-Powell in Dreamcatcher. She is a survivor of prostitution in Chicago, and gives support and advocacy to other women in similar situationsPhotograph: PRBrenda Myers-Powell in Dreamcatcher. She is a survivor of prostitution in Chicago, and gives support and advocacy to other women in similar situationsJulie Bindel2015-03-12T12:41:05ZFiona Patten: why she wants to find a new name for the Australian Sex partyhttp://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/12/fiona-patten-why-she-wants-to-find-a-new-name-for-the-australian-sex-party
<p>The party’s leader and first MP talks about widening its base, her push for voluntary euthanasia, drug law reform and online freedom, and the schism within feminism over porn, prostitution and Fifty Shades of Grey </p><p>If you can think of a better name for the <a href="https://www.sexparty.org.au/">Australian Sex party</a> than the Australian Sex party, Fiona Patten would like to hear it – really she would. Now that the party is five years old and Patten its first elected representative, she thinks it might have outgrown its “look at me” name.<br /></p><p>Patten was a failed candidate four times before winning an upper house seat in the Victorian poll in November. She wants to be taken seriously now on a raft of issues from drug reform to voluntary euthanasia, from small business to abortion rights.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/12/fiona-patten-why-she-wants-to-find-a-new-name-for-the-australian-sex-party">Continue reading...</a>Australian politicsVictorian politicsVictoriaAustralia newsDrugsAustralian lawAssisted dyingProstitutionThu, 12 Mar 2015 03:19:16 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/12/fiona-patten-why-she-wants-to-find-a-new-name-for-the-australian-sex-partyPhotograph: Julian Smith/AAPPatten hands out how-to-vote cards in Melbourne in 2010 for the federal election.Photograph: Christopher Talbo/AAPPosters for the Australian Sex party outside a polling booth during the Victorian election campaign.Photograph: Meredith O'Shea/GuardianAustralian Sex Party convenor Fiona PattenGay Alcorn2015-03-12T03:19:16ZBarcelona brothel workers get social welfare rights after court decisionhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/11/barcelona-brothel-workers-get-social-welfare-rights-after-court-decision
<p>Although judgement only applies to one Spanish brothel lawyers say it is a further step to normalising prostitution</p><p>A Spanish judge has decided three sex workers should have been hired full-time by a brothel owner and ordered her to pay health care and benefit contributions to the government. </p><p>The ruling issued in February — and made public this week — can be appealed and does not create a precedent for Spain’s estimated hundreds of thousands of prostitutes, whose ranks are believed to have increased during the country’s crushing financial crisis that started in 2008 and lingers with unemployment at 24 percent.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/11/barcelona-brothel-workers-get-social-welfare-rights-after-court-decision">Continue reading...</a>SpainProstitutionEuropeSocietyWorld newsWed, 11 Mar 2015 05:45:35 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/11/barcelona-brothel-workers-get-social-welfare-rights-after-court-decisionPhotograph: Pau Barrena/Pau Barrena/Demotix/CorbisSex workers wear masks while protesting during an anti-prostitution ban demonstration in Barcelona. A court in the city has gone some way to normalising prostitution by insisting a brothel owner give benefits to its sex workers.Photograph: Pau Barrena/Pau Barrena/Demotix/CorbisSex workers wear masks while protesting during an anti-prostitution ban demonstration in Barcelona. A court in the city has gone some way to normalising prostitution by insisting a brothel owner give benefits to its sex workers.Associated Press2015-03-11T05:45:35ZDreamcatcher review – an unflinching view of Chicago’s sex workershttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/08/dreamcatcher-review-unflinching-view-chicago-sex-workers-kim-longinotto-documentary
Kim Longinotto’s powerful, non-judgmental documentary about women surviving on the mean streets of Chicago<p>A few weeks ago, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/feb/15/love-is-all-review-kim-longinotto-richard-hawley">Kim Longinotto’s <em>Love Is All</em></a> proved an unexpected Valentine treat. This documentary may be tougher fare but it’s no less full of love, thanks to the extraordinary Brenda Myers-Powell who travels the mean streets of Chicago dispensing advice, comfort and condoms to the city’s abused and dispossessed women. Herself a sex-work survivor (she was nearly killed by a client), Myers-Powell has a non-judgmental affinity with those she mentors, listening to their stories, understanding their predicaments, intervening to break the poisonous cycle of guilt, blame and self-destruction. Their narratives are horribly repetitive – childhood rape; parental neglect; drug addiction; domestic violence – yet Brenda sees the inner-strength beneath, and a former pimp helps her to explain the psychological tricks of the trade to vulnerable youngsters. Like its subject, this documentary is powerful, honest, and empowering. Bravo.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/08/dreamcatcher-review-unflinching-view-chicago-sex-workers-kim-longinotto-documentary">Continue reading...</a>DocumentaryProstitutionSex tradeFilmCultureChicagoUS newsSocietySun, 08 Mar 2015 07:59:13 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/08/dreamcatcher-review-unflinching-view-chicago-sex-workers-kim-longinotto-documentaryPhotograph: PRThe ‘extraordinary’ Brenda Myers-Powell speaks to a high-school girl in Dreamcatcher.Photograph: PRThe ‘extraordinary’ Brenda Myers-Powell speaks to a high-school girl in Dreamcatcher.Mark Kermode, Observer film critic2015-03-08T07:59:13ZDreamcatcher review – deeply moving prostitution documentaryhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/05/dreamcatcher-review-moving-documentary-ex-prostitute-brenda-myers-powell
Kim Longinotto’s film about the work of Chicago ex-prostitute Brenda Myers-Powell is calm, non-judgmental and engaging<p>In British film-maker <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/12/longinotto-film-making-saved-life">Kim Longinotto</a>’s tough but remarkable new documentary, she focuses on the work of <a href="http://thedreamcatcherfoundation.org/staff/brenda-myers-powell/">Brenda Myers-Powell</a>, an early contender for saint of the year – an ex-prostitute who has overcome a life of abuse to devote her time, unpaid, to helping other women in similar situations around Chicago. Like the film, she’s calm, non-judgmental and engaging and despite her undeniable star quality (an award-worthy biopic feels like the next logical step), Longinotto doesn’t impose a conventional narrative on her story, or those of the women she helps, and gives them the chance to share their harrowing stories without any forced emotional beats. It’s grim, unfussy and deeply moving.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/05/dreamcatcher-review-moving-documentary-ex-prostitute-brenda-myers-powell">Continue reading...</a>DocumentaryFilmCultureChicagoUS newsProstitutionSocietySex tradeThu, 05 Mar 2015 21:45:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/05/dreamcatcher-review-moving-documentary-ex-prostitute-brenda-myers-powellPhotograph: prHarrowing stories … Marie Miller and, right, Brenda Myers-Powell in a scene from DreamcatcherPhotograph: prHarrowing stories … Marie Miller and, right, Brenda Myers-Powell in a scene from DreamcatcherBenjamin Lee2015-03-05T21:45:00ZMost sex workers have had jobs in health, education or charities – surveyhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/27/most-sex-workers-jobs-health-education-charities-survey
<p>One of largest ever surveys of industry reveals pressures that lead people to sex work, including inability to meet living costs on low NHS pay<br></p><p>More than 70% of UK sex workers have previously worked in healthcare, education or charities, while more than a third hold university degrees, according to one of the largest surveys of the industry ever undertaken.<br /></p><p>The academic research, carried out by Leeds University and funded by the Wellcome Trust, also reveals the pressures that lead people to enter the sex industry, with one respondent saying she could not keep up her mortgage repayments while earning &pound;50 a day as an NHS care assistant.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/06/sex-workers-decriminalisation-amendment-modern-slavery-bill">Listen to sex workers – we can explain what decriminalisation would mean | Niki Adams</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/27/most-sex-workers-jobs-health-education-charities-survey">Continue reading...</a>ProstitutionUK newsResearchEducationHigher educationFri, 27 Feb 2015 15:53:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/27/most-sex-workers-jobs-health-education-charities-surveyPhotograph: Zave Smith/CorbisSome previous jobs of sex workers included road haulier manager, merchant navy caterer and life coach.Photograph: Zave Smith/CorbisSome previous jobs of sex workers included road haulier manager, merchant navy caterer and life coach.Diane Taylor2015-02-27T15:53:01ZDominique Strauss-Kahn's 'swinging lifestyle' shocks Francehttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/13/france-dominic-strauss-kahn-prostitutes-pimping-trial-lille
<p>Harrowing testimonies from prostitutes at the former IMF chief’s trial for ‘aggravated pimping’ have exposed the country’s social and economic dark side </p><p>It is a saga of money, fame and destitute women ferried to luxury locations for sex with powerful men, against a backdrop of economic deprivation and social misery. France has been shaken this week by harrowing testimony from a trial in Lille that not only put in the dock Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former International Monetary Fund chief and one-time French presidential hopeful, but also examined a much wider, depressing picture of poverty, women submitted to sex acts against their will and alleged pimps who referred to them as “livestock”.<br /></p><p>In court, Strauss-Kahn, 65, the one-time hero of the French left, flatly denied the accusation he aided and abetted the prostitution of seven women – a charge of “aggravated pimping” that carries a 10-year prison sentence. He said he never knew or suspected there were any prostitutes among the many women brought to him by regional French businessmen friends for group sex, at what he termed “festive afternoons” in Europe and the US while he was head of the IMF.</p><p>Strauss-Kahn insisted he never had sex with prostitutes because 'I prefer a party atmosphere before, during and after'</p><p>He said sex with strangers was 'the whole point' of his 'swinging lifestyle'</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/13/france-dominic-strauss-kahn-prostitutes-pimping-trial-lille">Continue reading...</a>Dominique Strauss-KahnFranceWomenSocietyProstitutionSexLawFri, 13 Feb 2015 19:35:29 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/13/france-dominic-strauss-kahn-prostitutes-pimping-trial-lillePhotograph: Christophe Ena/APDominique Alderweireld, also known as Dodo the Pimp, arrives at court.Photograph: Christophe Ena/APDominique Alderweireld, also known as Dodo the Pimp, arrives at court.Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/ReutersDominique Strauss-Kahn leaves his hotel to attend the trial.Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes//ReutersPhotograph: Gonzalo Fuentes//ReutersAngelique Chrisafis in Lille2015-02-13T19:35:29ZThe top 10 books about addictionhttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/11/top-10-books-about-addiction
<p>Sex, food, envy, drugs, dreams and drink: addiction is never simple and rarely forgotten. SJ Watson, author of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/apr/16/before-i-sleep-sj-watson-review">Before I Go To Sleep</a> and now Second Life, shares his top 10 titles</p><p>I’d been working on my second novel for a while before I realised what it was really about. I’d been thinking about online lives, about how social networking allows us to present multiple versions of ourselves to the world, identities that are both highly curated and tightly controlled. At the same time, I’d been musing on how our sense of self is never really fixed, yet we tell ourselves one historical narrative, constantly rewritten to make sense of the changes in our lives. It can be all too easy to look back on the person that we “used to be”, on the road-no-longer-travelled, with a fondness and regret that are often misplaced.</p><p>I realised that it was this multiplicity of self that I wanted to write about. A character, Julia, began to emerge, but the wheels were still spinning until a friend said to me, “You know, addiction is a very patient disease.” That one phrase became the key that unlocked the novel; I began to see addiction as something cunning, lying in wait, biding its time. I realised it would form the backbone of the book: Julia would be a recovering addict, someone haunted by her past, yet also in some way nostalgic for it. She would come to see the internet as a means to explore the life she might have had, not realising that conquering one addiction does not mean conquering them all. Like many of us, her battle would ultimately be with herself. Here, then, are my top 10 books featuring addiction, in some form or other.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/11/top-10-books-about-addiction">Continue reading...</a>BooksCultureAlcoholismHealthAlcoholSocietyDrugsProstitutionEating disordersMental healthWed, 11 Feb 2015 09:00:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/11/top-10-books-about-addictionPhotograph: Allstar/Cinetext/WARNER BROS/Allstar/Cinetext/WARNER BROSJack Nicholson in The Shining.Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext/WARNER BROS/Allstar/Cinetext/WARNER BROSJack Nicholson in The Shining.Photograph: K.C. BAILEY/APHubert Selby Jr., author of Last Exit to Brooklyn and Requiem for a Dream.Photograph: K.C. BAILEY/APHubert Selby Jr., author of Last Exit to Brooklyn and Requiem for a Dream.Photograph: /Cinetext Collection/Sportsphoto/AllstarWasted … Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting. Photograph: Sportsphoto/AllstarPhotograph: /Cinetext Collection/Sportsphoto/AllstarWasted … Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting. Photograph: Sportsphoto/AllstarSJ Watson2015-02-11T09:00:07ZRome red light district given green lighthttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/07/rome-red-light-district-given-green-light
<p>Experiment in Eur business district aims to reduce the impact of a trade currently conducted on more than 20 streets in the neighbourhood</p><p>Rome has approved plans for a red light district where prostitution will be officially tolerated, officials have confirmed.</p><p>Ignazio Marino, the Italian capital’s centre-left mayor, gave his blessing on Friday evening to the experiment in the Eur business district, to the south of the city’s historic centre.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/07/rome-red-light-district-given-green-light">Continue reading...</a>ItalyProstitutionEuropeWorld newsSat, 07 Feb 2015 14:46:56 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/07/rome-red-light-district-given-green-lightPhotograph: Aurelien Meunier/Getty ImagesRome’s mayor, Ignazio Marino, has approved the scheme despite opposition from within his own party.Photograph: Aurelien Meunier/Getty ImagesRome’s mayor, Ignazio Marino, has approved the scheme despite opposition from within his own party.Agence France-Presse in Rome2015-02-07T14:46:56ZBronx Beauty: struggling with addiction, my friend still made it homehttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/05/bronx-beauty-struggling-with-addiction-my-friend-still-made-it-home
<p>Chris Arnade has spent the past four years of his life documenting the lives of street addicts. The day after Christmas, he drove cross-country with his friend Beauty to help her reunite with her family<br></p><p>Beauty’s lime-green tights set her apart from the dreariness of a street lined with parked semi-trucks and empty walls topped with razor wire. She was working, waiting for men who would pay her for sex. It was March of 2012, and she had been in Hunts Point, in the Bronx borough of New York City, only a few months. I was a year into a project photographing and documenting the lives of street addicts.</p><p>She approached me with a broad smile and a want to talk. After an hour of listening, I asked her the question I asked everyone: “How do you want to be described?”</p><p>“Of course I pissed in my pants. Yo. I can’t just whip out my dick, riding between rolling cars, and piss into a tunnel. The 2 train doesn’t have toilets and sinks. You understand? I got to let it loose in my pants. I done jumped the turnstile once, and I ain’t gonna do it again, so I just go. You got to. It be like, at first, damn that is warm, and then I forget about it, because it just pee.”</p><p>“My momma had a girlfriend named Sweet Pea who lived here in Tulsa. She was a drug dealer who always treated us right, buying us presents even when momma slept on the couch and wasn’t good to Sweet Pea. She was always getting into things. Came into the house once bleeding. Someone had thrown a coffee cup at her head. Never seen so much blood. Ever.”</p><p> “You ever been to a Golden Corral? They don’t got them up in Bronx, they a Southern thing. They my favorite. Like a second Walt Disney World with food. That is the shit.”</p><p> “Not sure what my momma is thinking. I can’t fit in my sister’s clothes, that bitch is big!”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/05/bronx-beauty-struggling-with-addiction-my-friend-still-made-it-home">Continue reading...</a>DrugsOklahoma CityNew YorkProstitutionThu, 05 Feb 2015 16:41:22 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/05/bronx-beauty-struggling-with-addiction-my-friend-still-made-it-homePhotograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty lighting a smoke.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty lighting a smoke.Photograph: Chris ArnadeA stop on the way to Oklahoma.Photograph: Chris ArnadeA stop on the way to Oklahoma.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty smiling on the road.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty smiling on the road.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty, in hospital after a seizure.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty, in hospital after a seizure.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty on the author’s computer.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty on the author’s computer.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty on her way to Oklahoma.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty on her way to Oklahoma.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty on the phone, talking to her family.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty on the phone, talking to her family.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty’s mother’s house, in Oklahoma City.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty’s mother’s house, in Oklahoma City.Photograph: Chris ArnadeMr Fields, a longtime friend of the family.Photograph: Chris ArnadeMr Fields, a longtime friend of the family.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty and her mother.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty and her mother.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty in Hunts Point, a neighborhood of 50,000 in the Bronx, a tongue of land jutting into New York City’s East River. It is New York’s, and one of the country’s, poorest areas.Photograph: Chris ArnadeBeauty in Hunts Point, a neighborhood of 50,000 in the Bronx, a tongue of land jutting into New York City’s East River. It is New York’s, and one of the country’s, poorest areas.Chris Arnade2015-02-05T16:41:22ZFrance’s Hotel Carlton pimping trial hears about lives of prostitutes in Lillehttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/04/france-carlton-hotel-dominique-strauss-kahn-prostitutes-lille-trial
Defendants including Dominique Strauss-Kahn deny they played part in prostitution ring that used vulnerable and desperate women<p>The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/02/dominique-strauss-kahn-pimping-trial-starts" title="">Hotel Carlton pimping trial</a> in Lille has heard of the power exerted by older men and business figures over destitute women in the northern French city, some of whom had been abused as children, and who found themselves passed around men in hotel rooms, apartments and as the “dessert course” at business lunches.</p><p>The trial is best known for one of its defendants, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/02/dominique-strauss-kahn-lille-court-pimping-trail" title="">Dominique Strauss-Kahn</a>, ex-head of the International Monetary Fund, who is accused of aiding and abetting prostitution by having group sex with paid women brought to him in Europe and the US by businessmen friends. He strongly denies the pimping charge, admitting group sex but saying he did not know women at the orgies were prostitutes.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/04/france-carlton-hotel-dominique-strauss-kahn-prostitutes-lille-trial">Continue reading...</a>FranceEuropeWorld newsDominique Strauss-KahnProstitutionSocietyWed, 04 Feb 2015 18:35:37 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/04/france-carlton-hotel-dominique-strauss-kahn-prostitutes-lille-trialPhotograph: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty ImagesDominique Alderweireld, known as Dodo the Pimp, and his lawyer Sorin Margulis (left) arrive at Lille courthouse, France. Photograph: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty ImagesDominique Alderweireld, known as Dodo the Pimp, and his lawyer Sorin Margulis (left) arrive at Lille courthouse, France. Photograph: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty ImagesAngelique Chrisafis in Paris2015-02-04T18:35:37ZVice case puts Dominique Strauss-Kahn and French attitudes to sex on trialhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/31/dominique-strauss-kahn-french-sex-trial
The former presidential hopeful’s fall will reach its nadir in a sordid sex-party trial that signals a moral shift<p>On a damp day in the northern French city of Lille, where an early-morning flurry of snow has turned to drizzle, there is only one subject of conversation – and it is not the inclement weather.</p><p>The talk is of politics, power and pimping, and whether former presidential hopeful Dominique Strauss-Kahn was simply a man with an insatiable penchant for sex or – unlikely as it seems – a key figure in an “international” vice ring.</p><p>It’s true that French people have the impression they live in a very liberal society when it comes to sex</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/31/dominique-strauss-kahn-french-sex-trial">Continue reading...</a>Dominique Strauss-KahnFranceEuropeWorld newsProstitutionSocietySat, 31 Jan 2015 20:07:19 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/31/dominique-strauss-kahn-french-sex-trialPhotograph: AFP/Getty ImagesThe Hotel Carlton in Lille, centre of a sex-party case that will expose DSK to further scrutiny. AFP/Getty ImagesPhotograph: AFP/Getty ImagesThe Hotel Carlton in Lille, centre of a sex-party case that will expose DSK to further scrutiny. AFP/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty ImagesFormer IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty ImagesFormer IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty ImagesKim Willsher in Lille2015-01-31T20:07:19ZThe underworld of US sex trafficking: 'if there were no johns, there would be no prostitutes'http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/26/path-appears-sex-trafficking-pbs-documentary
<p>Each year 100,000 American girls and women are coerced into prostitution. The first part of the PBS documentary A Path Appears explores a pervasive problem </p><p>It’s the dead of winter in Chicago. A man enters a hotel and rings the woman waiting for him in room 238. He found her number on Backpage.com, a Craigslist-style site that hosts listings for “adult entertainment” services.</p><p>The woman on the other end answers and invites him up. When he gets to her room, they negotiate a price – her services are advertised at $60 for half an hour. As soon as the man agrees, a loud beep alerts the undercover officers waiting next door. They rush in to bust the man for solicitation. Such clients are referred to as “johns”.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/26/path-appears-sex-trafficking-pbs-documentary">Continue reading...</a>US crimeUS newsProstitutionWorld newsMon, 26 Jan 2015 17:51:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/26/path-appears-sex-trafficking-pbs-documentaryPhotograph: screengrabFox News’ coverage of the National Day of Johns arrests.Photograph: screengrabFox News’ coverage of the National Day of Johns arrests.Photograph: Audrey HallBecca Stevens, founder of Thistle Farms.Photograph: Audrey HallBecca Stevens, founder of Thistle Farms.Photograph: Audrey HallMorrissey with Kristof.Photograph: Audrey HallMorrissey with Kristof.Photograph: Audrey HallShelia McClain, who works at Thistle Farm.Photograph: Audrey HallShelia McClain, who works at Thistle Farm.Photograph: Audrey HallTrafficking survivor Audrey Morrissey.Photograph: Audrey HallTrafficking survivor Audrey Morrissey.Lauren Gambino2015-01-26T17:51:44ZField post: breaking the mother-daughter cycle of sex work in Ugandahttp://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/jan/23/field-post-breaking-the-mother-daughter-cycle-of-sex-work-in-uganda
<p>Harriet Kamashanyu was inspired to start an NGO working in Kampala’s red light districts after her childhood friend followed her mother into sex work</p><p>I grew up in Namuwongo, a suburb of Kampala next to a red light district and my best friend’s mother was a sex worker. I’ll always remember what my friend, Resty, went through to seek medication for her mother. She was rejected at every hospital and then her mum passed away. Resty had to look after her younger siblings so she went into the same line of work. We lost touch but I’m praying that one day we will meet again. She was made me what I am today. Her story inspired me to start Rhythm of Life.</p><p>We work in two red light districts in Uganda helping HIV-positive female sex workers to access healthcare and their daughters to access education to break the cycle of mother-to-daughter prostitution. We have got five girls into education so far, two in primary school and three in secondary school.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/mar/14/human-trafficking-slavery-india">Human trafficking: 'We are haunted by the horror that we have witnessed'</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/dec/18/bad-pay-and-wandering-hands-protecting-cambodias-beer-girls">Low pay and wandering hands: protecting Cambodia’s ‘beer girls’</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/aug/29/domestic-violence-uganda">'Beating your wife is a sign of love' - changing norms to end domestic abuse</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/jan/23/field-post-breaking-the-mother-daughter-cycle-of-sex-work-in-uganda">Continue reading...</a>adolescent girls - global development professionals networkGlobal development professionals networkUgandaProstitutionAids and HIVAfricaWomenGenderpeople in development - global development professionals networkFri, 23 Jan 2015 09:00:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/jan/23/field-post-breaking-the-mother-daughter-cycle-of-sex-work-in-ugandaPhotograph: Rhythm of Life/PRHarriet Kamashanyu: ‘The government and the entire community blame the sex workers for spreading the disease. It’s not fair.’Photograph: Rhythm of Life/PRHarriet Kamashanyu: ‘The government and the entire community blame the sex workers for spreading the disease. It’s not fair.’Harriet Kamashanyu in Kampala2015-01-23T09:00:10ZCasbah curse for British WW2 troops: from the archive, 22 January 1980http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jan/22/gonorrhoea-penicillin-british-army-prostitution-algiers
<p>“Why were all the gallant wounded men unable to have penicillin while some scallywags received it to relieve them of the discomforts their indiscretions had brought on them?”</p><p>A distinguished doctor has revealed one of the most delicate secrets of the Second World War - how scarce supplies of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2013/mar/12/penicillin-fleming-alexander-bacteriology">penicillin</a> were diverted to the British Army in North Africa to cure the gonorrhoea that threatened to jeopardise the planned invasions of Sicily and Italy.</p><p>When the British Army reached Tunis, troops, some of whom had survived three years of desert warfare, were being laid low by the curse of the casbah at an alarming rate. There were similar problems in Algiers.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jan/22/gonorrhoea-penicillin-british-army-prostitution-algiers">Continue reading...</a>GonorrhoeaSecond world warSexual healthDrugsProstitutionThu, 22 Jan 2015 05:30:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jan/22/gonorrhoea-penicillin-british-army-prostitution-algiersPhotograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesThe Casbah in Algiers in 1943, the location of many brothels.Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesThe Casbah in Algiers in 1943, the location of many brothels.Malcolm Stuart2015-01-22T05:30:07Z